Signal-carrying case



J. P. RODENBUR.

SIGNAL CARRYING CASE.v APPucmoN man ocT. 2. |919.

1,344,564. PatentedJune 22, 1920 2 SHEETS-SHEET l P. RODENBUR.

SIGNAL CARRYING CASE. APPLICATION FILED ocr. 2. 1919.

1,344,564. PanIeaJunezz', 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

JOHN P. RODENBUR, OF DULU'TH, MINNESOTA.

SIGNAL-CARRYING CASE.

Application led October 2, 1819.

To all lwhom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN l). BODENBUR, a citizen of the United States, residing` at Duluth, in the county of St. Louis and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Signal-Carrying Cases, of which the following is a specification.

rlhis invention relates to signal-carrying cases.

lt is necessary that freight and passenger trains be provided with some kind of an arrangement wherein can be conveniently and safely carried the red flag, torpedoes, and fusees which are required by law to be available for use on all trains. Preferably the carrying means should be a weather-proof case as compact as possible; it must be of such a size and shape that it can be carried conveniently while climbing on and off trains; and it must be light and indestructible for the service it must meet.

One object of my invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive case adapted to meet the requirements hereinabove set forth.

Another object of my invention is to provide a case in which the red flag, torpedoes, and fusees may be conveniently and safely placed.

These and other objects are accomplished by means of the ar angement shown on the accompanying sheets of drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my im` proved signal carrying case.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the saine case with the front wall thereof removed.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the case lying in a horizontal position, the door of the case being open.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view of the case taken in the plane of line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary front elevation of the case with the door in open position, showing the manner in which the handle is secured to the door.

Fig. 6 is a view of the signal flag showing the jointed staff.

Fig. 7 is a detail View showing the hinge and lock on the flag staff; and

Fig. 8 is a view of the flag with the staff folded and the flag signal portion wrapped around the staff, in which condition the is arranged to be placed into the casing.

The various novel features; of my invention will be apparent from the following specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 22, 1920.

Serial No. 328,003.

description and drawings, and will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the figures of the drawings, it will be noted that my signal carrying case has front and back walls 10, and 11, respectively, side walls 12, and top 13, all formed integrally and preferably of metal, in order that the case may withstand hard treatment which it must receive vin service. The bottom of this case is in the form of a door 14, which preferably is hinged to the rear wall of the case at the lower end thereof. Non mally the case is hung in a vertical position by a handle 15 in the form of a closed loop, the sides of which pass through looped brackets 16 secured to the sides 12 of the case at the upper rear portions thereof, the lower portion of the looped handle extending through straps 17 and 1S secured to the inner side of the door 14, the handle preferablybeing operativelyconnected to the door 14 along the long central axis of the door.

From the description thus far given it is apparent that if handle 15 is hung upon or suspended from a hook, not only will the case be vertically supported in a suspended position, but the door 14 also will be moved into and held in closed position.

rlhe interior of the signal-carrying case is divided in a manner to safely and accurately retain the various signals, such :is the torpedoes, fusees, and red flag. The torpedoes are carried in a channel member 19 which is slidably mounted in the case, the slide being confined by a stationary partition 2O and stationary inclined members 2l and 22, respectively, which occupy adjacent corners of the case and conform in inclination to the flanges 23 of the channel member 19. rlhe torpedoes 24 are retained in the slide member 19 partially by the outwardly converging flanges 23 of the slide, and also by a yieldably mounted latch 25, preferably made of spring material which is located at the outer end of the slide. Normally the slide is locked within the case by a projecting portion 26 of the spring latch 25 passing laterally through an opening 27 in the stationary partition 20. If it is desired to use a torpedo, the same may be taken from the case by first pressing the spring latch 25 into an unlocked position, whereupon the slide may be drawn outwardly to expose one or more of the torpedoes. The torpedoes then may be drawn from the slide after pressing the spring latch in the opposite direction. lt is seen, therefore, that the spring latch performs two functions; it releasably locks the slide in the casing, and releasably locks the torpedoes within the slide.

The law requires that at least four or sixusees shall be carried on each train, the fusees being of two colors, red and yellow. To accommodate siX usees, I have provided within-my casing six cylindrical tubes 28, which preferably are arranged in the middle of the case. As shown, six usees 29 are within the tubes 28 and are releasably retained therein by yieldable members or springs 30, even though the casing is in a vertical position and the door is open. The fusees may be withdrawn 'from their retaining tubes by drawing the usees outwardly through the door 14. The usee retaining tubes 28 are located between the stationary partition '2O and another' stationary partitionV 31, which separates the usee tubes 28 from the compartment 32 containing the red flag.

The red flag signal portion 33 is secured to a stick or statt having two portions 34 and 35 hinged together at their ends by a hinge member 36. It will be appreciated that if a flag having a one-piece staff of the proper length were placed within the casing it would make the latter unduly long. Accordingly, to provide a flag which is of the standard size and which will have a staff of the proper length and yet of such size that it can be placed in a case of a length no greater than the length of a usee, it is necessary to joint the Hag stati". This I have done and have provided one portion l34 of the flag staff with a spring locking member 37 and the handle portion 35 of the staff with a locking projection 38 which is received by an opening 39 in the spring locking member 37 for holding the members 34 and 35 of the staff in a rigid cooperative position when the latter is bcing used for flagging purposes. YVhen thel flag is not in use, the members 34 and35 of the flag staff arev unlocked and then folded one upon the other, whereupon the flag signal portion 33 is wrapped around the collapsed stall and placed within its compartment 32 in the signal carrying case.

The length of the case is made as small .as possible, the case being just long enough to completely inclose the fusees. Then the case is hung 1n its normal position it is impossible for any water to enter the case,

making the same weather-proof. rlhis case `is lof'minimum size, convenient to handle',

weather-proof, light, practically indestructible, and-carries the signals in a readily accessible manner to meet all of the requirements of service conditions.

It is my intention to cover all modifications of the invention falling within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

l claim:

l. A signal-carrying case including a body portion, said body portion having a plurality of compartments therein for receiving signals, a door operativelyconnect-4 ed with Vsaid body portion, a handle by means of which the case may be carried and by means of which the door may be retained in closed position, and means other than the door for releasably securing the signals within the compartments.

2. A signal-carrying case including a body portion, the body portion having a plurality of compartments therein for receiving signals of various kinds, a door operatively connected to said body portion, a handle by means of which the case may be suspended and by means of which the door may be retained in vclosed position, and signals mounted in the compartments of said case and releasably held therein by means other than said door.

3. A signal-carrying case including a main body portion, a door pivotally connected thereto, and a handle connected to said door by means of which the-door is held closed when the case is in a hanging position.

4. A signal-carrying ycase having integrally formed front, rear, sides, and top, a door pivotally connected to the body portion of the case and forming the bottom thereof, and a handle pivotally connected to the-door and by means of which the case may be hung, the door being retained closed when the case is in a hanging position.

5. A signal-carrying case having a door, a handle connected to said door whereby the case may be hung by said handle and whereby the door is held in closed posit-ion when the case is so hung, the signals within the case being insertible into and removable fromthe case regardless of the position of the case.

6. A signal-carrying case including a body portion, a door operatively connected thereto, and a handle by means of which the case may be suspended and by means of which the door may be retained in closed position, and a signal flag mounted in said clase and relcasably held therein byv said coor.

Signed at Duluth, h/innesota, this 27thv 

